Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
A third-generation LaCrosse farmer has just returned from Europe with two basketball medals.
Playing in the age 65-plus group of the Federation of International Masters Basketball Association, Tedd Nealey competed in tournaments in Thessaloniki, Greece, and Torino, Italy.
In Greece, his team of veterans from Oregon and Washington – many of which were once Division I college players – took second place, losing to Ukraine in the finals.
Later, the team went to the World Masters Games in Torino and won bronze in the elite division.
Four teams made up the elite division with many more in others.
“We should have been in the (middle) division,” Nealey said.
Nealey has competed on Masters teams since the 60-plus age bracket.
A LaCrosse basketball grad with the class of 1965, he also played for a year at Whitworth.
“I just kept playing,” he said.
Nealey’s team this summer is different from his usual group from Eastern Washington, which also includes Nealey’s twin brother Terry, now a representative to the state legislature from the 16th-District, out of Dayton.
With several of his usual team members not available, Nealey joined a group from Portland to compete this summer.
“It’s my last year of C.R.P. on the farm,” he said of the opportune time.
All told, he was gone for 30 days. The players’ wives came along too.
In Torino, Nealey’s team was part of 19,000 athletes to participate in the World Masters Games.
“It’s the largest tournament in the world,” Nealey said.
Between the two tournaments, Nealey’s team toured Italy and Greece by train, staying in hotels along the way.
One in particular was their favorite, Nealey said.
“We liked the one in Greece by the beach, the white sands, the Aegean Sea,” he said.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
Reader Comments(0)